Religion Blog

ATLANTA -- A national atheist group said Monday that it will donate its literature for use in
cabins and lodges in Georgia's state parks after the governor's recent decision to allow Bibles
there.

David Silverman, president of the Cranford, N.J.-based American Atheists organization, said
his group is just waiting for an answer from the state on what the best procedure is to donate
several books, including one titled "Why I Am An Atheist."

"We expect fair treatment, we anticipate fair treatment and we look forward to fair
treatment," Silverman said. "If the state is going to put Bibles in the cabins, they must allow
alternate points of view - all alternative points of view without taking sides."

But it was not at all clear today whether the atheist literature would find a place in the
cabins alongside the Protestant Bibles.

Asked if the state would allow it, Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal, would
only say that the governor's office is working on regulations governing the distribution of
materials with the Department of Natural Resources and the Attorney General's Office.

Silverman says he's expecting the state's decision to take no longer than it did for Deal to
order the Bibles' return.

"There are lots and lots of atheists in Georgia, and there are lots of atheists who visit
Georgia," Silverman said.

One of those atheists, Ed Buckner, was not happy last month when he discovered nine Gideon
Bibles in the cabin he had rented with his family at Amicalola Falls State Park in north Georgia.
When he complained, park managers removed the Bibles while they sought a legal decision from the
Attorney General's Office.

The AG determined the state was on firm legal ground because it hadn't paid for the books.
That prompted Deal last week to order the Bibles returned to the cabins at Amicalola and other
state parks. In announcing the decision, the governor said any religious group was welcome to
donate literature.

Silverman's group responded soon afterward.

"We appreciate the governor's invitation to place atheist books in the cabins and look
forward to providing visitors with the opportunity to learn more about atheism when they visit
Georgia's beautiful state parks," American Atheists Managing Director Amanda Knief said in a
statement.